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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29253813">Unmasked</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/NapoleonBonerfart/pseuds/NapoleonBonerfart'>NapoleonBonerfart</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Queen Fakey of Made Up Town [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Parahumans Series - Wildbow</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Diverges around Extermination 8.7, Gen, Post-Leviathan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 12:01:27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,993</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29253813</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/NapoleonBonerfart/pseuds/NapoleonBonerfart</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“If the tables were turned, if it was you who had your identity uncovered, you would want us taking the same firm hand, giving you that same respect.”  In the hospital after Leviathan, it wasn't Skitter who saw Sophia Hess unmasked, but Shadow Stalker who saw Taylor Hebert unmasked.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Queen Fakey of Made Up Town [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2093361</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>127</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Unmasked</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Portions of this story's dialogue are lifted directly from Extermination 8.7 by Wildbow.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>I was beginning to hate waking up in hospitals.<br/>
<br/>
The adrenaline that had been coursing through me from when I heard the Endbringer sirens to the moment that Scion had shown up seemed to leave me at once, leaving me in a mental and emotional wipe out. As the fog began to clear from my brain, the sounds around me of hundreds of heart rate monitors beeping out of sync, and doctors and nurses shouting orders at each other hit me.<br/>
<br/>
"She's waking up." I heard a familiar voice say. Tattletale? She was alive?<br/>
<br/>
"You sure?" That was Grue's voice.<br/>
<br/>
"Pretty sure," Said Tattletale.<br/>
<br/>
I opened my eyes, and all I saw was a blur. Next to my bed was a black and lavender blur with a head of something yellowish on top. Over on the other side of my bed were two dark colored blurs, the taller one was Grue, but that still left the third person in the room. I blinked, hoping that my eyes would come into focus better, but they didn't. It was then that I realized why the room seemed to have a slight blue tint to it and nothing was coming into focus. I tried to move one arm but I realized too late that it was still handcuffed to a metal pole. Reaching over with the other hand, I felt my face and I was sure of it now.<br/>
<br/>
My mask was gone.<br/>
<br/>
"Here," Said Lisa, and I saw that she was holding my mask. "Panacea 'forgot' to put your mask back on after she healed you." I could almost hear the air quotes around how Lisa said forgot from how she said it.<br/>
<br/>
I quickly grabbed the mask from Lisa and pulled it onto my face. As the world finally came into focus, I looked over at Grue and I finally realized who the other person in the room was.<br/>
<br/>
Shadow Stalker.<br/>
<br/>
Grue was standing behind Shadow Stalker holding her in some kind of grapple hold, I couldn't remember the exact terminology he used.<br/>
<br/>
"What... what's going on?" I asked.<br/>
<br/>
"We caught Shadow Stalker peeping on you while you were unmasked," said Tattletale.<br/>
<br/>
My stomach fell at Lisa's words. Shadow Stalker had seen me unmasked.<br/>
<br/>
I was about to say something when the curtains around my bed opened up and Armsmaster, Legend and Miss Militia walked in.<br/>
<br/>
"Let go of her," demanded Armsmaster, his voice on the edge of snarling.<br/>
<br/>
"Sure. Just make sure that she doesn't try and reach for her crossbow again," Said Grue, releasing Shadow Stalked from his grip.<br/>
<br/>
"After all, we wouldn't want <em>another</em> hero trying to kill Skitter during an Endbringer truce after all," Said Tattletale.<br/>
<br/>
Wait, what? Somebody else had tried to kill me already?<br/>
<br/>
"That's an extremely serious accusation," Said Legend.<br/>
<br/>
"Skitter, is this true?" Asked Miss Militia.<br/>
<br/>
"I don't know about trying to kill me, but when I woke up, Shadow Stalker was in here and I didn't have my mask on," I spoke up.<br/>
<br/>
"Shadow Stalker?" She asked.<br/>
<br/>
"Yeah," Shadow Stalked replied. "I had just gotten healed and I was on my way out to make room for the next patient when I stumbled over bug bitch here. Didn't even have time to move before Grue grabbed me from behind."<br/>
<br/>
"Hmmmmmmmmm," Hummed Lisa. One look on her face and I realized that she looked like the cat who caught the canary.<br/>
<br/>
"The truth please Shadow Stalker," Said Armsmaster. "Why were you in Skitter's room?"<br/>
<br/>
"I fucking told you," Shadow Stalker said, raising her voice. "I was trying to leave, to free up the bed for somebody else and I took a wrong turn."<br/>
<br/>
"So you just decided to hang around in our teammate's room, and you just happened to be pointing your crossbow at her when we walked in. Is that it?" Said Grue.<br/>
<br/>
"I wasn't pointing my crossbow at Heb- at her," Retorted Shadow Stalker.<br/>
<br/>
"Lie." Said Armsmaster.<br/>
<br/>
My heart was racing. Shadow Stalker had tried to kill me when I was laid up in the hospital bed. Was the Endbringer truce already over? Were they going to arrest me, or worse? I reached out for my bugs. If they were going to kill me in a hospital bed, then I wouldn't give up without a fight.<br/>
<br/>
"Some truce," I said, coughing. "Couldn't you least wait till I wasn't in a hospital bed before trying to kill me?"<br/>
<br/>
"Fill me in here, who's Skitter?" Asked Legend.<br/>
<br/>
"She's a member of the Undersiders, a group of teenage villains," Answered Miss Militia. "Master 5, bugs only."<br/>
<br/>
"This is an extremely serious situation. Shadow Stalker," Said Legend, walking around my bed to close the curtains around my bed. "Do you understand?"<br/>
<br/>
"Fuck you. She's a villain, you're really gonna defend her?" Said Shadow Stalker.<br/>
<br/>
"I'm not defending a villain," Said Legend. "I'm defending the Truce. Skitter's assistance in tracking Leviathan during the fight was invaluable. If we try to take advantage of the situation to take out a rival, villains with valuable abilities would sit out future Endbringer fights, leading to greater hero casualties down the road."<br/>
<br/>
"Again, she's a fucking villain!" Said Shadow Stalker, shouting. "She attacked us at the Forsberg Gallery!"<br/>
<br/>
"You're already on probation Shadow Stalker," Said Miss Militia, her voice hard. "There's not a lot of options you have here. If you start shouting, especially if you start shouting <em>what you know</em>, it would cut down on your options here. Understand."<br/>
<br/>
"If the tables were turned, and it was you who had your identity uncovered, you'd want us taking the same measures," said Legend. Shadow Stalker scoffed a laugh at that, Lisa made a noise that sounded like she was doubtful of that.<br/>
<br/>
Taking a deep breath, I asked, "You were talking about options, for her. What are they?"<br/>
<br/>
"If you were judged to have taken advantage of an Endbringer situation-" started Armsmaster.<br/>
<br/>
"She was," Interrupted Lisa.<br/>
<br/>
"If you were judged to have taken advantage of an Endbringer situation," Said Armsmaster again, a note of frustration in his voice. "You would meet the most serious penalty we can offer. Those who violate the Endbringer truce are almost always sent to the Birdcage."<br/>
<br/>
"<em>Almost</em> always," needled Lisa. "But you're not planning on sending Shadow Stalker here to the Birdcage are you?" She asked.<br/>
<br/>
"We'd have to figure out the seriousness of her actions first," Miss Militia said.<br/>
<br/>
"Shadow Stalker. Was it an accident that you saw Skitter unmasked?" Asked Legend, his voice firm. "And did you try and shoot Skitter in here?"<br/>
<br/>
"Yeah it was an accident," Said Shadow Stalker. "But I wasn't about to kill Skitter here like blondie here says."<br/>
<br/>
"You know who Skitter is, out of costume." Lisa said. "You almost said her name, her real name, just now. Maybe it was a spur of the moment thing, but now you're thinking about ways to go after her out of costume."<br/>
<br/>
"Are you are, miss?" Legend asked.<br/>
<br/>
"Tattletale, a member of the Undersiders." Armsmaster said, brusquely. "She's a master manipulator with a penchant for head games, likes to pretend she's psychic but she isn't. We don't know her power, possibly clairvoyance, psychometry, or some combination thereof, but we've got her pinned down as a thinker seven."<br/>
<br/>
"Seven? I'm flattered," Tattletale replied, grinning.<br/>
<br/>
"It's enough that we should end this conversation here, before you can find an angle." Growled Armsmaster.<br/>
<br/>
"Okay. It was an accident." Said Legend. "This isn't the first time we've run into a situation like this, though this is a first for an Endbringer event that wasn't a blatantly intentional attempt to gather information on a rival. In the previous case, the villain couldn't be detained conventionally, and the Birdcage wasn't yet running. To top it off, he... wasn't Protectorate material, for reasons I won't explain. Yet every individual involved was concerned that if we didn't resolve the case, it would be a costly loss of resources on both sides with an ongoing pursuit by the heroes, there would be potential escalation leading to serious harm on one side of the other."<br/>
<br/>
"So?" Grue asked.<br/>
<br/>
"So he agreed to reveal his real face to the other cape, so that any abuse of the knowledge on his part would be just as damaging to him."<br/>
<br/>
"So what would that mean in this case?" I asked. "Shadow Stalker unmasks to me?"<br/>
<br/>
"No." Shadow Stalker objected. "No fucking way am I unmasking to <em>her</em>."<br/>
<br/>
"Hmmmmm." Tattletale hummed. "Why not?"<br/>
<br/>
"I don't have to explain myself to a villain like you." Shadow Stalker said. "And I'm definitely not unmasking to a depressing little queef like Skitter."<br/>
<br/>
"You're making a difficult situation even more difficult for you by being so stubborn, Shadow Stalker," Legend spoke.<br/>
<br/>
"I'm sure that she has her reasons." Miss Militia said.<br/>
<br/>
"Reasons. Sure." Grue snorted. "Excuses more like."<br/>
<br/>
"Give her a minute." Interjected Tattletale. "She's got to put her worldview back together after Skitter being here ripped it to shreds. How about this, Shadow Stalker unmasks to Skitter. Skitter and Shadow Stalker keep away from each other when out of costume, think of it like a restraining order. Shadow Stalker, you see Skitter walking around in civvies? You turn around and walk away. She gets on a bus you're on? You get off and take the next bus? Skitter? The same goes for you too. You see Shadow Stalker out of costume, you say nothing, do nothing. And if Skitter's civilian name gets into any Protectorate or PRT databases, or if you tell one of your friends about who Skitter is? We'll know, and the Birdcage goes on the table."<br/>
<br/>
Shadow Stalker snorted. "You really think they'll go for that?" She asked.<br/>
<br/>
"I do." Tattletale said. "Because the alternative is that I tell everyone how little the heroes respect the Endbringer truce. Tell them about how Panacea left Skitter unmasked over a petty grudge, about Shadow Stalker, about Armsmaster. Do you think you could survive the fallout from that?"<br/>
<br/>
"You've forced us into a corner, Tattletale." Legend said.<br/>
<br/>
"I didn't have to do anything beyond putting the facts together." She said, defending herself. "I wouldn't have had anything to hold over you if you hadn't done anything wrong."<br/>
<br/>
"Fuck it. Fine." Shadow Stalker said. "I'll unmask to Skitter."<br/>
<br/>
"Fine by me." I said. "Now can somebody please unlock these cuffs?"<br/>
<br/>
As if chastened by my reminder of the fact that I had been handcuffed to my hospital bed the entire time, a PRT office came over and unlocked the handcuffs chaining me to the bed.<br/>
<br/>
"Follow me." Legend said. I walked slowly, with Grue and Tattletale next to me and Miss Militia escorting a reluctant Shadow Stalker.<br/>
<br/>
As we walked through the hospital, I could hear the fractic activity of doctors and nurses trying to patch everyone up.<br/>
<br/>
"Here." Legend said, pointing to a door to an unused operating room. "This OR was too heavily damaged to use for surgery after Leviathan attacked, but it's good enough for our purposes."<br/>
<br/>
I walked into the room. True to Legend's word, the walls were cracked and there were puddles of water on the floor from where Leviathan's waves had swamped the OR. I turned around and watch the door, waiting for Shadow Stalker to follow me in so we could get this over with.<br/>
<br/>
The door opened, and she stood there on the threshold. Just as she was about to step into the OR, I heard Grue clear his throat, Shadow Stalker sheepishly removed her spare crossbow from her belt and handed it to Miss Militia. Now fully unarmed, she stepped into the room and closed the door behind her.<br/>
<br/>
"Alright. You've seen my face, and from the slip, I know you that you know my name." I said, tapping my foot impatiently. "So come on."<br/>
<br/>
"Fuck it. Fine." She said, sighing. She reached up and pulled off her mask and pushed back her hood.<br/>
<br/>
And suddenly, I understood.<br/>
<br/>
<em>Lisa, you magnificent bitch.</em></p>
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